Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to surgical devices and, more particularly, to hemostat-style surgical forceps for grasping, treating, and cutting tissue.
Background of Related Art
A surgical forceps is a plier-like device which relies on mechanical action between its jaws to grasp, clamp, and constrict tissue. Energy-based surgical forceps utilize both mechanical clamping action and energy to affect hemostasis by heating tissue to coagulate and/or cauterize tissue. Certain surgical procedures require more than simply cauterizing tissue and rely on the unique combination of clamping pressure, precise energy control and gap distance (i.e., distance between opposing jaw members when closed about tissue) to “seal” tissue. Typically, once tissue is sealed, the surgeon has to accurately sever the tissue along the newly formed tissue seal. Accordingly, many tissue sealing devices have been designed which incorporate a knife or blade member which effectively severs the tissue after forming a tissue seal. More recently, tissue sealing devices have incorporated energy-based cutting features for energy-based tissue division.
With respect to hemostat-style surgical forceps for use in relatively deep openings and/or in confined spaces, longer shaft members provide the surgeon with the ability to reach the target tissue. However, as the lengths of the shaft members increase, so does the range of motion required to open and close the jaw members.